Cold Nights and Painful Nostalgia
by DreamCrystal13
Summary: Every year Sarah gets a gift from the Goblin King...
1. Chapter 1

Every year on the anniversary of my run through the Labyrinth, a present appears on my vanity. On the first year it had been a hair piece with owl feathers hung on thin leather strips. The feathers were white bits of fluff that I was absolutely sure had come off Jareth himself. That night I looked up the significance behind owl feathers, they protected a maiden from harm. I put it in my nightstand, I never wore it, but knowing it was there was enough.

The next year it was a silver bracelet with 6 tiny crystal spheres imbedded in it. It was of the finest craftsmanship I had ever seen, and I had a pretty good eye for jewelry from spending so much time with my mother. The next day I went out and found a black velvet bag to keep it in, and it joined the hair piece to sit in a drawer.

On the third year it was fine stained glass window hanger of what else but, an owl. The whole thing was only about 4 inches and it depicted a snowy barn owl against a midnight sky. It was so beautiful I felt it was a shame to hide it when it was so obviously meant to be on display, but I feared putting it out more. So, wrapped in paper, it joined the other 2 gifts.

Last year it was a beautiful blue leather bound book with _Celtic Mythology_ scrawled in silver across the cover. Now this one did not immediately join the other gifts in my drawer. I read it first, a lot of it was well above my head, but I got the gist of what was there. I wondered where Jareth had gotten this book, but then I realized it most likely came out of his private library. With that the book joined the other 3 gifts only to be looked at on cold nights of painful nostalgia.

June 21st was rapidly approaching, it seemed my entire existence had come to depend on that one simple date. I looked forward to it more than anything else in the whole year. More than my birthday, more than Christmas, June 21st was the biggest day of my whole year. And not just because of the gifts, it was the idea that Jareth was there and still cared for her. That was enough to keep any girl warm at night.

Of course The Day, as she had come to call it, had to fall on a Friday, just like it had all those years ago. This time there was no storm, and Toby was now a happy 5 year old, just as blond and blue eyed as he had been then, but that meant I was home alone to babysit.

It was nearing midnight and I was starting to worry that Jareth wouldn't show. _It been 4 years, he's probably moved on._ I sighed and got up from her bed to check on Toby. I cracked the door and heard him snoring peacefully. She went back across the hallway to her own room.

I looked outside through the window. There was a large Barn Owl there, a king among his brethren, the sight of him sent pleasing shivers down my spine. _He does still care! _My mind screamed. I smiled a little and nodded at him, the owl blinked at me. I looked on my vanity.

There was a silver pendant necklace and… a note? A small piece of folded parchment was sitting in the middle of chain. I picked it up with trembling hands and unfolded it.

_ Please do wear this one precious. I hate seeing my gifts go to waste. – J. G. K._

Was written in possibly the most loopy masculine scrawl the tiny parchment could handle. I smiled at it and picked up the necklace. It was a smaller version of the crescent shaped pendant Jareth wore around his neck. In the center was a strange insignia that looked like it had something written in a language I couldn't read. I examined it, running my thumb over the planed of the pendant, felling the bumps in the metal.

I considered putting it in the bag with the bracelet just to spite him. But it was such a specific request, and the item was so personal. It was an exact copy of the item I had seen on him at every occasion, every time we met to sharpen our wit on each other. Sighing, I clipped the chain under my hair. The pendant hung right above my heart, a shock of cold that quickly warmed against my skin.

I looked back out the window, there was nothing there.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

"Why do I keep doing this?" I whispered into the door as I quickly unlocked it and ran inside to avoid tonight's date. Over and over I went out on these stupid dates Karen set me up on. All because "you should," or because "it will look good," or any other reason that ran through Karen's shallow little brain.

"How did it go?" Karen called from the living room.

"Wonderful…" I said sarcastically, I was already halfway up the stairs before she could ask any more questions.

I quickly closed my bedroom door and threw myself on the bed. Tonight's "date" had been some creep of a son of one of my father's coworkers. The whole night he had come on too strong, and been all touchy-feely with me, and then tried to full-on make out with me in his car. This caused me to flee as rapidly as possible from him. I couldn't even remember his name anymore… Dave…? Derek…? I don't know something like that.

"Stupid whatever-your-name-is…" I said into my pillow.

I heard Karen coming up the steps; she knocked on my door and said, "Sarah, how did it go?"

"Fine… Just, fine…" I growled. I didn't invite her in.

"Well, Dale's mom just called and said that he'd like to do it again sometime."

Was the woman completely oblivious? "No," I said simply. I was hoping that she would leave me alone.

There was a moment of silence before, "What do you mean 'no!'" came from the other side of the door. "Dale's a perfectly nice boy from a nice family!" She screeched.

"Yeah… Whatever…" I really wanted her to go away, and was hoping non-responsive would do the job.

"Sarah!" she yelled through the door, "What's wrong with him? Or John? Or Billy? Or Jake?"

"Nothing! Their all _fine!_" I yelled back. And that was the problem with all of them, they were just _fine! _They were all fine, normal, nice, mortal guys! But how could any mortal ever compare with the Goblin King? They couldn't, and that was wear problems arose.

"Then what's the problem?" she cried. She waited; I stayed silent. There was no answer I could give her her that wouldn't have men in white suits coming to pick me up. "Are you a lesbian?" she asked horrified.

I sighed, "Yes, Karen, that's the obvious answer. I'm a lesbian," That got her to go away.

I listened to her stomp downstairs in an exasperated huff. I couldn't help but giggle a little at that. And after the horrible night I'd had, once the laughing started I couldn't stop. I rolled over and laughed some more.

"Oh gods! I just told that prude I'm a lesbian!" I continued to giggle uncontrollably. There was a very pleased looking owl outside my window, "Well I'm glad someone saw that!"

That was enough for me for one night. I changed into my night clothes in the bathroom, when I came out the owl was gone. I rolled my eyes.

After bad 'dates' I usually went through the Jareth Drawer; and tonight was no exception. I crawled across my bed and opened the drawer. The first thing I pulled out was the black velvet bag with the bracelet and necklace on it. Then came the stained glass owl, then I pulled out the owl feather hair piece. Lastly was the mythology book. I laid them out before me on the bed.

First came the hair piece, the feathers weightless and soft against my hands. I clipped the silver bracelet on next, it weight almost nothing, even with all the crystals on it. I flipped my hair to one side and put on the necklace last. It almost felt like some kind of weird religious ritual and these were symbols of my faith.

I opened the mythology book like a bible, flipping to the ribbon marked pages about Fey. There was a sub-category labeled Goblin King, with a full page illustration. It was quite clearly Jareth, even if he was all in shadow, swirling cloak and wild hair and child clutched in his arms with dozens of goblin dancing around him. I ran my hands over some of the words:

**_The Goblin King Represents and old pact between humans and goblins. The Goblin King takes away the wished away, unwanted, or those critically in dangers. He nor his goblins can take what is not freely given._**

****I went to the end of the page:

**_There have been numerous Goblin Kings, some better than others. Their king is always Fey, as goblins by nature are incapable of any sense of order. The last reported king (shown here) goes by the name Jareth or Jarah. The translation is unclear._**

****I read a little more, then took each item off and put it away one by one. Each one causing me a little bit more pain as it went back into the drawer. When the last one off, and the drawer closed, left me feeling cold and lonely. I curled into a ball under the sheets and cried for what I could have had until sleep came over me in a black wave of nothingness.

It was the beginning of October, school was in session and fall was in full swing. I had avoided any future dates with Dale or any other guy with half-assed excuses.

I walked through the front door after an average day of school. Even though it was fall, it was bitterly cold. I went as quickly as possible from my car to the house. I dropped my stuff on the floor in the entryway, removing my coat and shoes.

"Sarah! Can you come here for a minute," Karen's shrill voice called from the kitchen.

I sighed heavily and went to the kitchen. Karen was washing dishes; she turned and dried her hands when I came in. She gave me a serious look as I sat down at the kitchen table.

"Do you have plans for Halloween?" she asked.

"No… Hang at home, maybe take Toby trick-or-treating… Why?" I asked.

"Good. I'm throwing a party," she busied herself with cleaning the counters. "Dale and his family are coming…"

Ah, there was the catch. She always has some kind of ulterior motive. "Okay…" I failed to see her point.

She looked at me like I was stupid, "I told him you'd be his date."

_SHIT!_ "And why would you do that…" I asked, avoiding her gaze.

"He's a nice boy from a nice family; he's going to make something of himself. He'd be a good match for you," she went back to her task.

_Shit, shit, shit… Think of something!_ "Uhm… well… There's actually a guy I have a crush on…." I hoped that would get her off my tail.

She looked at me; she knew I was lying. "Well, what's this guy's name?" she asked.

"Jareth," I said the first name that came to mind.

"Jareth…" she rolled the name on her tongue, "Well, I expect to see this Jareth at the party," she went back to work. I was clearly dismissed.

I retreated to my room as quickly as I could without running. I closed my door, and banged my head against it for good measure.

"What… did… I… just… do?" I questioned between hits. I could have said anything, but no. I had to say the one name… _Jareth._ The one stupid name that had changed me forever. What was I to do now?

There was no way I could have him not show; that would mean spending a night with Dale. Creepy McCreepster would be all over me within 3 seconds once he thought I didn't have a date. And I could avoid the party, any excuse would be ignored. I didn't have any friends, so that eliminated the fake it option. I ran through every possibility I could think of, but that only left me with one option…

Call Jareth.

"Damn me and my big mouth…" I said and looked at the clock. I had to make it through 6 hours before I could put my plan into action. 6 very long hours.

"You're a little jumpy tonight," my father commented over dinner.

"I, um, yeah… I guess so," I pushed my food around my plate some more. I was too nervous to eat much of anything. He shrugged it off, and Karen was too busy trying to get Toby to eat to pay any intention to what I was doing. "I'm not very hungry."

I got up and put my dinner in a Tupperware and sticking it in the fridge. I went up stairs and locked the door. I still had to wait until everyone went to bed. I couldn't risk someone finding him in my room. How does one explain 6 feet of blond Goblin King in ones room?

I paced for a while, until Toby was put to bed. I tried working on school work, but all I could do was tap my pencil and doodle on the side of my page; it led me back to pacing. Finally I heard dad and Karen's door close. I waited half an hour.

When I was pretty sure everyone was asleep, I pulled out the necklace and clipped it around my neck. I stood in the middle of my room, brushing my finger against it and said The Words.

"I wish the Goblin King was here… Right now," Those little words that had the power to turn world up-side-down.

I held my breath and waited. There was sound like thunder, a rush of air, smoke, glitter and magic.

AN: Ok, Jesus Christ... This capter, just... UGH! It's just NO! I had to get a few points across here, and orgionaly I was going to have another chapter but Jareth visited, and... well... He has his ways, and thats all I'll say on that matter. So, yeah. Please forgive me.  
But I'm going to update every 2 weeks. Why? Because I have a life and job and a horse and it alows me to get a head. When I'm finished I might go to every week.  
And for your information this is a prequel to something else in the making, but I couldn't post that with out this one.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the reviews guys! I am so greatfull to everyone whos reviewing, favoriting, adding to alerts, I just might die! I'm sorry if I didnt respond but I am compleately useless at this site! If you want me to respon to your comments please leave them on Deviant Art! (link at bottom)

Again, guys, thanks!

Chapter 2

… Glitter and magic. Fey magic smells and feels like nothing else in the world; something akin to lightning and pure, raw energy. And when you combine that with what Jareth smells like; leather, and spices, and dark places and pure midnight, it was quite the combination in my small room.

He was unearthly beautiful still, long and pale with sharp features and mismatched eyes, his spun gold hair untamable. He wasn't dressed as menacingly as I remembered though. White shirt revealing some of his pale chest, black leather vest, obscenely tight black breaches, black heeled boots, and short, ragged black cape. The collar was quite high enough to be intimidating, and the white shirt made him look more romantic than villainess.

"Well, if it isn't you," he said cockily, leaning against the wall and crossing his booted feet.

I sighed; I swear it was impossible to catch him off guard. "Hello, Jareth," I stared into his off eyes. Even in near darkness the difference was apparent.

He tilted his head up slightly, "And to what do I owe this little call too?"

No time like the present to reveal the crazy. "I need your help," he raised an eyebrow. "I-I was stupid, and… And said something I shouldn't have-"

"And why am I not surprised?" he interrupted.

I glared at him, and he flashed me a canine-baring smile, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But, anyway, I, uhmm… I need you to be my date…" I was looking at the floor.

Silence. How is it that silence can be so loud? Suddenly he started laughing. (_I was wrong._) My eyes snapped up at him, he was trying to muffle it with a gloved hand, but he was still laughing. With his rather deep voice I would have expected something along the lines of 'smoky chuckle,' but actually he laughed more like a giggling school girl. It almost made me hate him even more, almost.

When he had gained some form of composure, "Did I hear you right?" he sounded like he couldn't believe me. I kept quiet and glared at him. "Oh, you precious, precious thing," he grinned at me arrogantly.

I curbed my tongue; it wouldn't help my case to get mad. I crossed my arms and imitated a pose he used often, "Yes Jareth, I need your help."

"And why should I do that? Last time I check you were the one who left me," He said.

I bit the inside of my cheek to try not and lash out at him. "I was 15! And you held something I could not afford to give up…" The end was a little softer than I meant it to be. All expression on his face drained away.

He pushed off the wall and walked towards me. He saw my fear and gave me a cruel smile. He circled me once; I didn't back up, snapping my head around just as he passed out of my sight behind me. His smile got a little less cruel and a little more teasing.

"My, how you have changed," he drawled and his lips twitched a little.

"It's been 5 years, you know that," I raised an eyebrow at him, "You, on the other hand…" I gave him a once-over, appreciating exactly how tight his pants actually were.

He shrugged, "One of the advantages of near immortality," though he was trying for nonchalant I could hear the touch of annoyance in his voice.

I felt a twinge of pain for him, it must be lonely being a Fey king in a kingdom of idiots. Goblins were not known for their intelligence. "Will you help me?" I asked to avoid silence.

"Why me in the first place? Isn't there some petty mortal boy who has caught you're fancy?" he snarled at the word 'mortal.'

I glanced down, "That's why I need you Jareth… I can never love a mortal man…" I barely whispered the last part.

"Oh," a cruel smile was curling his lips.

I answered him, hoping it would draw him over to my side, "They have nothing to offer me… You gave me everything, even if I denied you I now know the offer you made to me…"

He still felt the need to taunt me, "You could have had it all, a fairytale place spun from dreams, and kingdom, and its' king… All you had to do was say one word, and after the ones you had to say to get there in the first place, it wouldn't have been hard… But you took the long road… The path untraveled, and for what? This life…" he gestured to my room where my stuff was placed. I had tried for a time to put away the things of childhood, but when all your dreams are confirmed it's hard.

My temper flared, higher and higher with every word; because each one was truer than the last. I snapped, "SHUT UP!" I covered my mouth and froze. I heard the door open and my dad coming down the hall. "Hide," I directed at Jareth. He looked surprised, but disappeared without the usual glitter or smoke.

My dad threw my door open, "What are you doing?" his voice was tightly controlled.

"I-I'm sorry," I was trying desperately to think of some excuse for my outburst. _Glitter!_ "I-I knocked over a bottle of glitter," I desperately hoped he hadn't actually heard what I had said.

"Well, just, keep it down. Alright?" he was rubbing is eyes.

"Yeah, dad. I'm sorry." He smiled a little, then shut my door and went back to bed. "Jareth?" I called softly.

He reappeared exactly where he had been. And he was laughing. "Oh lords above, does that remind me of childhood," he couldn't seem to stop.

"Jareth…" I said warningly, glancing at the door. There was no way my dad was asleep yet, particularly not enough to not hear him.

A crystal rolled down his arm and into his palm, he held it for a moment then threw in into the air. It popped; throwing shards of dark blue magic with silver and gold flecks all around the room, each shard expanded and became translucent sheet covering the walls and ceiling. "There. No one can hear us now."

I reached out and touched one of the sheets, it sent a tingling sensation up my arm; I drew back. "Is that the color of your magic?" I asked, glancing at him.

"Where you expecting black?" he smirked at me.

I shook my head, "No… This suits you," I touched it again. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, just strange; different, but not bad. I could see him watching me from the corner of my eye. I smirked in a manner very like his own, "So if I felt like yelling no one would know?"

"No…" he looked confused at my question.

"Good…" I saw him cringe a little in preparation for some unknown that was about to happen. (Which of course was nothing, but it was fun to watch him squirm a little.) I smiled deviously, "Are you going to help me?"

He sighed and looked relieved, but quickly schooled his features. He came towards me slowly I turned to face him, realizing that put me against the wall. _Smart move, Sarah! It's just like in the tunnels… _He raised a gloved hand to just below my collar bone, looping a gloved finger around the chain of the necklace he'd given me. I was fighting very hard to control my breathing. He held the silver pendant in his hand. "You wore it…" he whispered.

I was confused, "Well yeah. You gave it to me…" My heart was beating so hard and fast in my chest I was absolutely sure it was about to break out. He was staring down at me so intently, and all I could do was stare back, like a deer caught in the headlights. _His eyes… They're not actually 2 different colors… He's so pretty… _

He leaned down, and I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he buried his head in my neck. I held still, unsure of how to _react_, his baby fine hair tickled against my cheek. _It's even softer than I remember… _I reached up and stroked my hand against the shorter pieces.

"I'll do it…" he breathed into my neck.

I was so distracted by his breath on my neck that I barely heard what he had said. "What?" I said breathlessly.

He pulled away and smirked down at me, "I'll see you on Samhain."

He disappeared. I slid down the wall, his loss felt like a physical pain. I felt utterly devoid with him gone; everything around me looked dull and blurry after him. I wrapped my arm around my knees and tried to calm down. I waited for my heart to stop beating like a hummingbirds.

Eventually I was able to get up and stagger to bed. I didn't bother taking off my clothes or the necklace. I felt cold, even though it was quite warm in the house. I shivered and waited for sleep to come, the empty nothing of sleep was welcome after my encounter with the Goblin King.

oo0O0oo

AN: Again... A bad chapter this week. I lost more than half of the origional between my flashdrive and laptop. And the origional was so much better... Then the retype turned out different than I wanted so I did it again and it still isn't right.

And if you feel they're both acting a little OOC I promise to explain it in later chapters. There are still things to come!

(And I may be making you wait until Halloween for the next chapter because I'm an evil author! And because I think it would be fun to post this in the season as it happens. I know you'll all hate me for that, but what else are we here for? In the mean time I will have something else that I will be posting. It is dark and rated M, but that is how I am feeling at the moment. Not sure if I am going to do this, but I like to scare you!)

Oh, and guys, please go check me out on DA. I post some pretty funny things there.

And if you want to know what Mr. Bowies laugh sounds like: watch?v=RXABh88Dkes fast forward to about 50-53 seconds in and die of cuteness.


End file.
